A Strange Arrangement

I had gone from hopelessly morose to angrily belligerent. After all I had ever done for him, I was still presented with a lifetime membership in the friend zone? That didn't work for me. I suppose I was partially to blame for this situation. I had expected the same feelings to blossom in him naturally without ever speaking up about my own, and tonight when I realized they hadn't, I lashed out at him.

Any temporary rational thoughts I had washed away when the taxi pulled up to Eric's apartment. At least I thought it was his apartment. The outside resembled an abandoned warehouse, but I followed Sara's instructions and took the elevator to the second floor.

The elevator slid opened and I approached the only door in sight. I didn't quite know what I was doing, I just knew that I was hurt and embarrassed and I'd do anything to get rid of those emotions. I knocked and waited tentatively for Eric to answer.

I heard the shuffling of feet inching closer and then Beckner appeared before me in basketball shorts and a Flyers t-shirt.

“Oh cruel, cruel irony...”

“Alexandria,” he said looking at me shocked. I had re-touched my make-up in the car so I knew it wasn't smudged mascara that had him appalled. “What are you doing here?” He let a slick smile form on his face as he folded his arms and leaned against the door frame.

“Fuck off and let me in.” I said and pushed past him.

“Feisty. I like it.” I heard him mumble.

The inside of his apartment was the complete opposite of it's dingy looking exterior. It looked like it was fully ready to be photographed as the post modern example of how to furnish a home in an upcoming IKEA catalog. I was surprised and pleasantly taken aback.

I stopped in the middle of his home, between the kitchen and the living room, and took in the surroundings.

“Nice place.” I said somewhat absentmindedly.

“Nice face,” he flirted. My eyes met his and I looked at him unimpressed by his cheesy attempt at a compliment. “I mean you look very lovely.”

“Better.” I looked over at his TV and saw “(500) Days of Summer” playing on mute. I pointed to it and gave him a questioning glance.

“It's my favorite romantic dramedy. What?” he said defensively.

“Nothing.” I replied with a slight smile.

“...it's mine too.”

“So to what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?” he asked.

“Well I said I was going to make up for ditching you at dinner that night, so here I am!”
“Okay, what do you propose we do?”
“Uh, well...we can...watch '(500) Days of Summer'!”

“Lexi, you didn't get all dressed up, get my address from someone, and drive over here just to watch a movie with me.” He saw through me pretty easily. I didn't like that one bit.

“How do you know any of that?”

“Well if you didn't get my address from someone, then you're admitting to Yellow Page stalking me which would be creepy, and I'd have to ask you to leave immediately. And girls generally don't get all done up the way you have for guys they don't even like.”

“I like you!” I spat unconvincingly.

“That's why you turned me down all those times, right?” he said jokingly as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his black Karlstad sofa. We sat down and I barely looked at him because of how bad I felt for treating him the way I had. “It's okay, Lex. I mean I don't mind a challenge. That's why I persisted.” He grinned.

“I don't understand why you persisted with me though. What's so great about me?” I asked continuing to celebrate the pity party that I had started for myself after I walked away from Kris.

“A lot. You're intelligent, witty, funny, sarcastic, beautiful, and talented. It also doesn't hurt that you have great taste in music which I know because I read your articles. You love hockey which is awesome even though you're a Penguins fan.” he playfully hit me and smiled. “And above all, you're independent. A lot of times, if I show interest in a girl she latches onto me like a leech. You kept your distance though. It's refreshingly different.”

I weakly smiled at him. The skeptic in me wanted to believe his words were just recycled lines of a lifelong player, but my gut told me he was sincere.

“So what happened to bring you here tonight? You can just be honest.”

“My roommate tried to set me up on a double date tonight and-” I shook my head as I tried to find the right words. “-it just wasn't what I expected.” I wasn't ready to be fully truthful yet about Kris.

“Disaster, hmm?”

“You could say that, yeah.” I nodded.

“Sorry,” he said putting his hand on mine. “I wouldn't have let that happened if you had gone out with me.” He was trying to cheer me up, I could tell. Maybe it was how awful the night had been and how comforting Eric was being, but when I looked at him I saw him differently. I didn't want to avoid him. I wanted to be closer to him. I leaned in closer to him and analyzed the contours of his striking face.

“He's like a non-Irish Colin Farrell or something...”

As my head was swimming with thousands of thoughts, Eric moved in the rest of the way and pressed his lips to mine. My whole body felt like it had just been re-energized by an electric shock.

I pushed my body closer to him as our kissing became more intense. My fingers were entangled in his hair and his hands went on an exploration. He wasn't Kris and this wasn't how I had envisioned the night going but this felt right. I needed this.

Everything was progressing smoothly when unexpectedly he pulled away.

“Wait, stop.” he told me. I looked at him confused. I thought this was what he had always wanted. “This isn't right. You're only doing this because you feel lonely.”

“No, I'm not. I'm not drunk, Eric. I'm of perfectly sound mind. I want this.” I said leaning closer to him again.

“Well if that's the case then we can put this off until another night. A night when you don't show up to my door after having a miserable Valentine's Day date feeling lonely and vulnerable.” he laughed.

“I'm not-” I started. He leaned forward and kissed me again.

“Stop talking.” He told me when he pulled away. I had gotten rejected by two guys in the same night. This rejection was a lot gentler though so I didn't mind it as much.

He leaned backwards pulling me with him. He took “(500) Days of Summer” off mute and we laid there for the rest of the night, not saying a word, until we both fell asleep.